The most breath-taking cinematography you will see this year...

Never imagined I'd see something that I thought could rival Koyaanisqatsi. Then I saw this...

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Augmented Reality Photography

App Puts Virtual Images on Physical Walls

by Jessica Lum

LZRTAG is a free Android app that lets you generate QR codes associated with uploaded images — mostly animated .gif images. The codes can be printed out and placed on walls and other surfaces. When scanned with the Android app, the codes call up the associated image and display it in an augmented reality on your phone.

This could also be a novel concept for photographers displaying work in galleries: instead of physical prints on walls, photographers could potentially display digital work in augmented reality.

Potentially any areas where QR codes could be placed can now become virtual photo galleries, accessible to anyone with a smartphone.

Cool.

The display possibilities are endless.

As are the possibilities for augmented reality photo art.

My Hero ...

Chase Jarvis

In a profession where the highest practitioners of the art often try to protect their knowledge like magicians do theirs, Chace Jaris is just the opposite kind of professional photographer.

"There's at least ten amazing pictures where you are right now."

What are you waiting for ?

The First Full-Frame Point-and-Shoot Camera

Sony RX1 Hands-on Preview

dpreview.com

This isn't just Sony's most serious compact camera, but arguably the most serious compact camera we've ever seen. It features a full-frame sensor and a fixed 35mm F2 lens, making it a real heavyweight in terms of lightweight photography. Sony has said it is targeting professional photographers and we see no reason to question that.

If it lives up to the promise (and a lot of that will depend on how fast the autofocus works, and how dependable it is in low light), the RX1 could easily become a classic, used by photojournalists and other working pros who need a small, flexible camera with excellent image quality. The image quality samples we've seen have been confidence inspiring, offering the low-light performance and shallow depth-of-field that only really come from having a fast lens in front of huge sensor.

Sony DSC-RX1 specification highlights

24MP full-frame (24x36mm) CMOS sensor

35mm F2 lens

ISO 100-25600

Focus range switch for focus down to 0.2m (14cm from the front of the lens)

Dedicated aperture ring

Five user-customizable buttons

Multi interface hotshoe (combines ISO 518 standard contacts and proprietary connector)

1.23M dot RGBW 'WhiteMagic' LCD

1080p60 HD movies in AVCHD (50p on PAL region models)

Focus peaking to aid manual focus

Bulb mode and threaded cable release socket in shutter button

The lens, which is designated as a Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* features a leaf shutter for essentially silent operation (though you can engage a sound effect if you wish). This design means the camera can sync with flashes all the way up to its 1/2000th maximum shutter speed, as well as allowing the lens to reach closer to the front of the sensor.

Many photo enthusiasts have been dreaming of a full frame point and shoot for quite some time. Now that Sony has been first to introduce one it will be very interesting to see how and with what other manufactures respond.